Episode 7.11

“Adventures In Babysitting” ReviewBy Bekah James

Supernatural 7.11: Adventures In Babysitting
Written by Adam Glass and Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
Music: “Ridin’ The Storm Out” by REO Speedwagon and “Dear Mr. Fantasy” by Traffic

…Aaaaand we’re back. The winter hiatus is over and, I don’t know about you, but I was truly looking forward to getting back to business with my favorite boys. I curled up under my comfy (and comforting) blanket and had my box of tissues handy. I was prepared to pull on my big girl panties and deal with Bobby’s death with a few (hundred) tears.

But then something remarkable happened. Bobby’s death was kind of swept under the rug. We didn’t see the boys burn his body, which in the Supernatural universe means that it is very possible that Bobby is not really dead and/or staying dead. I’ve seen some speculation in the fandom that Bobby may be in a coma, but with the boys having his personal effects, Sam talking about contacting Bobby’s “people”, and Dean referring to Bobby’s “last breath”… I think he’s prettydead for now. I know the suddenly drained beer has given fans hope that Bobby is a ghost and sticking close to the boys to watch out for their well-being (thus snatching the beer away from Dean). But as for me, I like to at least entertain the possibility that that action was the work of someone else we’ve lost this Season: Castiel. With the fandom a-buzz about Misha Collins’ return in episode 17, I think there is a possibility that the angel that once drank a liquor store is jonesing for a drink, and took it from his good friend, Dean. I don’t think it is possible that Bobby—as a ghost—would be strong enough in just six weeks to make beer disappear from a bottle. Remember how long it took for Dean and Sam to learn how to make things happen when they were ghosts in Season 4’s “Death Takes a Holiday”? And they had Cole to guide them. Anyway, I think that if Bobby is haunting the boys, we haven’t really seen it yet. Give it time though.

It was difficult to watch Dean tail spin this week. His anger is bottled up so tight that it is only a matter of time before he blows like a building full of C-4. He got so obsessed with Dick Roman that he let Sam go on a hunt alone, without knowing what he would be up against. The result of that decision: Sam nearly dies. Hopefully, Dean will get a little balance after this close call. The brothers, as we have seen time and time again, are stronger when they are together. For Dean’s sake, I am looking forward to the resolution of the Leviathan problem. Perhaps it will give him the closure he needs with Lisa and Ben, Castiel and Bobby.

(By the way… isn’t it odd that Dean never updated John’s journal about vetalas? After all the time they spent trolling that journal in Season 1, wouldn’t it have been the ideal time to make a footnote on the vetala page? Yes, yes, that’s nitpicky, but hey, that’s what we do in this fandom, right?)

It was interesting to see Sam as the brother that was quick to go to the rescue of a kid. It’s not a weird interesting… Sam is a caring guy, no doubt about that. But in my mind, Dean is the sucker for kids. I saw Sam’s readiness to intervene as more of a send up to Bobby. He did not want to let one of Bobby’s contacts down, because he knew that Bobby certainly would not have let them down. While Jared Padalecki did an admirable job in this episode, the vetala storyline was really the least interesting aspect of the episode for me.

Madison McLaughlin knocked it out of the park as tough-as-nails Krissy Chambers. She embodied the best of young Sam and young Dean. The similarities in her story to the young Winchesters—the disappearing Dad, turning to Bobby, wanting to be normal—were a little on the nose, but I get why this episode was important. It brought it all back together, got us as close as we could to the Season 1 version of Sam and Dean. They will never be those men again, but through Krissy and her father, we were reminded of what they once were. Sam told Lee that Krissy saved their lives, and while that is true in the most literal sense, with the vetalas, I think that statement had a broader meaning. It brought Dean back from the brink of Frank-style crazy, and back into Sam’s orbit. Now that they are back together, maybe they’ll make real headway on the Leviathans and the usual monsters that attract attention to themselves.

Frank Devereaux is growing on me like a slow-growing fungus. He’s amusing and just crazy enough to make sense most of the time, but he is a poor substitute for Bobby—and our much beloved Ash. He makes me laugh every time he is on screen, but I was pleased to get a little back story on how he ended up as the resident conspiracy theorist for hunters. It always starts with the family, doesn’t it?

The special effects on the vetala death scene were awesome. I always love it when the effects make me think—for just the scantest of seconds—that this could all be real. I know, I know… call me Becky Rosen! The disintegration was masterful. I was also a fan of their creeptastic eyes and teeth.

The end of the episode Impala talk was sad to me. Well, they usually are, huh? But what I mean is that watching Dean force a smile, that just tore me apart. Also, it was a sort of creepy smile. It got me thinking… what if a Leviathan has, in fact, taken over Dean? Oh, I’m sure I’m just going crazy with that theory, but sheesh, that smile gave me the heebie jeebies.

This episode was not my favorite of the Season, but it held its own against the other MOTW episodes we have seen so far. I am growing weary of the Leviathan storyline, but I think that is because the boys are spinning their wheels without much headway—and because they keep killing our friends! Perhaps, with the advent of the second half of the Season, we’ll see the boys have a series of epiphanies that lead to the Leviathans’ downfall—and the resurrection of our fallen comrades. Here’s hoping.